Should I wait for a sale at Decathalon?

genericpurpleturtle

Hi all,

I'm thinking about buying a new road bike as I'm moving to a new very hilly city and my current bike is a single speed. I was considering buying a B'twin triban 540, but I read that Decathalon are refreshing their series at the end of this year, and getting rid of B'twin brand, and releasing a new triban bike with disc brakes and tubless wheels.

My question is this, I wanted to buy a bike in the next week or two, but is it worth waiting for there to be a sale on the current model? Normally I'd think that there would be a sale, but the price of the B'twin Triban 540 seems to have gone up from £600 to £680 in the last couple of years. I'm assuming this is because of high demand. Although it could be because they changed some of the parts on the bike? Early reviews said it wasn't a full 105 shimano groupset, but rather had a tiagra cassette, although now the website says it is a 105 cassette - I'm not sure how much you can trust the website, as it says the 520 has shimano breaks but the 540 has own brand b'twin breaks which surely can't be right?

I'm afraid that if I wait for a sale, it's never going to happen and I'm going to miss the opportunity to buy the old model I want and the new known more expensive one is gonna be my only option. What do you guys think, should I just buy one now or should I wait?

joe_totale-2

In answer to your first question Decathlon usually don't have too much in the way of sales but given that a new Triban is coming out there may be price reductions on the old one in the next month or two.

There's literally no way that a Tiagra cassette could be used instead of a 105 one as Tiagra is 10 speed and 105 is 11 speed.
It's the crankset which is not a 105 one but a cheaper, Shimano 11 speed one. I doubt it will be noticeably worse than the 105 one but it may be a bit heavier.

With regards to the brakes it won't be 105 brakes as they don't have the clearance to fit mudguards which the Triban ones allow you to do. It looks like it's Decathlon's own brand long drop brakes.

photonic69

The trouble with waiting for sales is that when they come it usually is the Small or XLarge stuff that is left. Being a normal size is a drawback. You might find this is the case with Decathlon too. If it is the end of a product range they possibly won't have a great number left and you might find yourself having to get next years 2019 model at top whack if it is a particular bike/size you are after.

I think sales are great if at the time you spot a bargain. Waiting for sales can lead to disappointment.

However YMMV

alan_sherman

Just get the 520 with the triple - nice low inner ring.

Bottom briquettes

I wouldn’t wait for the sales, they usually only have the extreme end of the frame size range left. The Triban 520 uses long drop Shimano brake callipers, the 540 has BTwin ( Tektro ) callipers, a 105 drive train, and a 105 11 speed 11-28 cassette. The chain rings are Shimano RS 500 52-36, which work just fine, but they aren’t Hollowtech, so they are heavier than 105 chain rings.

fenix

Only one "a" in Decathlon...

Dunno about sales I'm afraid.

keef66

Decathlon's pricing won't leave them much room for massive discounts, and they seem to be pretty good at stock control and I can't recall them ever being left with popular sizes at the end of a year.

UK price increases not confined to Decathlon I'm afraid, and Brexit uncertainty isn't helping either.

So buy the bike you want now, or wait till the new models are out and buy one of those.

combatclaret

The price increase may well be due to some minor part changes but the biggest factor will be the fall in value of the pound.
Keep watching the Decathlon site, about a month or two ago was a good example of what maybe to expect. The models about to be replaced were discounted and for a short time both the old and new were available. eg the old Ultra 720 AF and new Ultra 920 AF.

If I remember the discounts were never more than maybe 15% as mentioned they have good stock control. Also sizes could be limited, probably won't be many Mediums. It's also possible some may not be able to be purchased online and must be purchased in-store so be prepared to drive somewhere to secure the one you want in your size.

The flatbar version of the 540 was discontinued recently and a month or two before were selling with a 10% discount though by that time there were barely any left. I was already looking at the 520 flatbar so imagine my delight when out of nowhere a 540 popped up in my size at my nearest store. I could only see two others available, both in Ireland. You couldn't it order online so I went to the store the next day and snapped it up. The guy in the bikes dept said he didn't think there was another in the country.

Edit:
Here's a little more info on the new bikes
https://road.cc/content/tech-news/24606 ... ban-rc-520

"Expect to see some parts of the new range reaching your local Decathlon store this October with the remainder due for release in the spring."
You've only got a month to wait, maybe less to see possible discounts. Though from that article the new 520 is shown & reviewed, the 500 is mentioned but no mention of the 540 replacement which maybe implies it could be the last to be refreshed.

"Lazarus said he’s also looking to get a Shimano Ultegra-equipped model in the range that will sell for “well under £1,000”. Sounds great but not imminent.

Bottom briquettes

Chatting to Pete Lazarus on the BTwin owners club group, he said certain bikes are being carried forward to next year at least, I think the T540 was one that was being continued.

chippyk

alan sherman wrote:

Just get the 520 with the triple - nice low inner ring.

The lowest gear on a 520 is a 30/25. I don’t know they went for a semi compact but it’s a 36/28 on the Triban 540. It’s not a huge difference but I believe the 540 has the longer cage rear mech so you could put a 32 tooth cassette on if you wanted to. I did Rosedale Chimney at the weekend on 34/32 with three days worth of luggage on the bike having cycled from Warwickshire and I’m far from a good climber so 36/28 or 36/32 are low enough IMO.

You also get Mavic Aksiums on the 540.